Abstract:
Grounded theory is one of the most common qualitative research strategies in social sciences.
Currently, many applications of this theory are being developed for religious education. In the
article it is argued that grounded theory deserves special attention for classroom research in
religious education. For this reason, the basic features (fundamental openness and concurrence
of data collection and analysis; constant comparison and asking analytical questions) as well
as the coding strategies (open, axial, and selective) of grounded theory will be explained and
concretised. An analysis of one example sequence demonstrates how grounded theory may be
used to emphasise the communicative and substantive aspects (as well as the interaction
between the two) of classroom interaction, therefore lending itself to data analysis. In this
manner, grounded theory can also be used for an intensive analysis of a student’s learning
process, as the authors have done in one student profile analysis, as well as for a comparative
analysis of teaching practice in an actual class or even a variety of classes.
